December 28, 2010

A few of us had not been to Sigsig yet so we decided to go as a group and stop at Chordeleg for the one friend who had not yet been there. She was interested in taking a look at the jewelry for which the town is best known. We chartered a van but it’s very easy to get there by bus from the Terminal Terrestre as well. We first stopped at the central plaza where we saw this colorful sculpture.A couple of us went off to walk the streets, as is our custom. Chordeleg is also known for its shoe making and we saw these cobblers working on what appeared to be their own small assembly line.Walking up the hillside we had a better view of the town, including the church in the central plaza.This lady’s ensemble, as well as her bearing, caught my eye as we were walking back into town.Off we went to Sigsig, which is known for its hat making. We again stopped at the central plaza where we saw two of these gigantic metal sculptures. They must have been two stories high at least. I don’t know what they signified but they were quite creepy.Across the way there is a small amusement park, which seemed to be closed at the moment. I asked our driver if it was actually still operating as the Ferris wheel looked to be quite old and rather decrepit looking, he said “of course”. I replied “but isn’t it dangerous?” and he matter-of–factly answered “of course”.He told me that this covered wagon is also still in service for rides around the park.We had heard that there is a “beach” by the river in the town so that was our next stop. It looked like it might have once been a sand beach but it takes constant maintenance to keep sand grass-free so the sand was fairly scruffy. However, it was very clean and the day was wonderfully warm and I could have spent more time there! This little boy has the right idea.Some teens, on the other shore, had ridden their bicycles and were happily playing in the water.One of us noticed this newborn lamb, sheltering behind some vegetation with its mother. Its coat still looked damp!On our way out of town and back to Cuenca we saw the fibers that are used for making hats, hung out to dry and swaying in the wind.